Alaskan Excursions - RCL vs Private

[cctimmom]

If you have done an Alaskan cruise and booked an excursion, in terms of getting back to the ship on time, have you felt comfortable booking a private excursion or is it safer to go through RCL?

 

I understand the whole, the ship will only wait for RCL booked excursions... but I would also suspect that the tourism economy is based on reputation and word of mouth and getting people back late for the ship would be no bueno.

 

Guess I'm just looking for reassurance that my thinking to go with private excursions is a good idea (within 99% certainty :p)

 

PS... if you have done a private excursion, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated (also looking on the Alaskan port board as well as Trip Advisor... just figured I'd ask)

[lundnak]

We only did private excursions. The only one that was close to the time we were leaving was a fishing charter that got members of our family back 30 minutes prior to departure. We knew it would be tight as we only had 6 hours in port for a 4 hour tour. All got us back at exactly the time we expected. These are tiny towns. No traffic. Little to delay people. I guess its possible the Skagway railway could break down, but being the cruise line uses the same railway, ship excursion guests would have the same delay as private.

[bluebeard39]

We did all private tours during the cruise except for the train White Pass to the Yukon. Never had a problem getting back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

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[olemissreb]

We did all private tours in Alaska. We were on Celebrity and not RCI, but still applies. We never worried about getting back on time. I made sure when scheduling that we had at least an hour before we had to be back on board. Also all the tour operators that I spoke with all asked which ship we would be on so they would know what time the ship would be leaving. Our tour guide for our whale watching trip was so on top of things that she said that even though we were the second tour of the day for them, that we would still be back with more than 3 hours to spare! I suppose anything could have happened to the boat, but when you are making your money off tourists, you will make sure your equipment is in top shape and that you will get those tourists back to their ship in time.

 

I can't recommend independent excursions enough. While I didn't save as much in Alaska as I would have in the Caribbean over ships excursions, they were all way more personal and informative than any ship excursion I have ever been on. And I've never had to worry about missing the ship.

[OHCruisin]

I did all private excursion with the exception of the helicopter and hike on Mendenhall. That's only because none of the private companies would take cruise ship passengers, except through the cruise line. We were safely back to port with plenty of time to shop, eat, etc. around the ports themselves.

[Rewind]

We did a ship tour with the White Pass Train / Bicycle excursion - because when a ship is in port, the bike place doesn't have any available slots for non-cruise people.

 

We booked a private excursion in Icy Strait for whale watching - probably our most memorable time.

 

We rented a car and did our own thing in both Ketchikan and Juneau.

[Rogueperson]

I would definitely go private in Alaska. Why? You're in the US. Sure, the cruise lines (RCL included) will use the marketing scare that they will wait for you if your excursion is late, but the main reason you go with the cruise line is if there is a transfer bottle neck that you depend on (like the ferry in Cozumel to Playa Carmen) or something similar, or the company you may use is some fly by night scam that you can't double check easily because its in another country. Here, its a US based company. You can easily check up on it, and if you REALLY are unsure, you can probably pull its business entity off the net to see if its valid.

 

The only time I will use the cruise line excursion in Alaska is if they offer something that can't be done privately, which I haven't seen, but its been a while since i've been to Alaska.

 

Trip advisor is a great site. You find what you want to do, they even have the webpage for the company offering it. You can go through them personally and probably save a bit at the same time.

[cctimmom]

Thanks everyone!!! :cool::*

[mek]

I would also like to mention that I would never book a ships' excursion for Juneau. You will find many booths on the dock selling tours at a nice savings.

[Hoopster95]

PS... if you have done a private excursion, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated (also looking on the Alaskan port board as well as Trip Advisor... just figured I'd ask)

 

I see you're on Radiance... book this in Ketchikan

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g31030-d1007488-Reviews-Bering_Sea_Crab_Fishermen_s_Tour-Ketchikan_Alaska.html

 

I can't find another link I used to have from a few years back... was rated one of the top 100 shore excursions in the world.

I had a totally awesome day doing this. I've talked about before on these boards.

 

And even more strongly recommended, try to close your eyes and pull out your wallet for a helicopter tour either to dog sled or up to one of the glaciers and have the chance to walk on the glacier. Totally unforgettable. Note that due to weather many times these excursions get cancelled. On the day I was in Juneau, out of the 3 companies available only Coastal Helicopters were flying. Coastal was not available from RCL... I booked independently and privately. I assume RCL wanted to hire the least expensive option, simply a business decision. However when I booked independently was still $50 less than RCL sponsored.

 

Have a great cruise :D

[kristinp36]

I had an amazing day in Ketchikan with Island Wings....float plane tour into the Misty Fjord Park. The owner/pilot buys the permit so she can land in the park and you can get out and walk around. Some tours don’t allow you to walk around with other vendors. It was humbling.

 

 

 

 

 

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[olemissreb]

I had an amazing day in Ketchikan with Island Wings....float plane tour into the Misty Fjord Park. The owner/pilot buys the permit so she can land in the park and you can get out and walk around. Some tours don’t allow you to walk around with other vendors. It was humbling.

 

 

 

 

 

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Loved our tour with Michelle too! We landed in a different spot from yours because my son was on crutches, so she wanted a place that was a little more "solid" for him to be able to get out and "crutch" around. Still spectacular scenery! Love your pictures!